Thursday, September 29, 2011

09/29/2011
Despite being a typhoon-prone
country, with at least 20 typhoon visits annually, government
authorities have proven to still be unprepared for typhoon disasters.
And even with a change of leadership in the weather bureau that had been
given more weather forecasting equipment, we are still unprepared for
the big ones, especially on typhoons hitting Metro Manila.

By the
time the weather bureau and Malacañang sounded the alarm, Metro Manila
streets were already flooded, and too many schoolchildren as well as
office workers had already made their way to their schools and offices,
leaving them wet and stranded, with nowhere to seek shelter from the
howling winds and heavy rains.

Why could not the Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the traffic policemen, for
instance have stationed themselves near the flooded areas to at least
stop drivers and their vehicles from continuing with their driving into
the streets that already had the waters rising? That way, if they were
turned away and closed the streets early enough, such as the
Pasay-Manila stretch of Roxas Boulevard, all the way to Bonifacio
Avenue, less vehicles would not have been stranded right smack into the
impassable flooded areas..... MORE

09/29/2011
One is unsure whether Noynoy
believes it is the Spratlys issue that will keep him popular with the
international community, specifically the US and Japan and the Asean
governments, or if he is angling for more support for him and the
disputed Spratlys favoring the Philippine stand against China.

Whatever
the reason, Noynoy is playing a fairly dangerous game against China,
because no matter how much the US and Japan side with Noynoy, due mainly
to “international sea lanes access” particularly untrammeled passage
rather than regional security reasons, when China shove comes to push,
neither the US nor the Japanese government, and for that matter, the
Hanoi government is likely to wage a war against super power China.

It
certainly was much too indiscreet of Noynoy to state, when he was in
the US some weeks back, that China will be “reasonable” on this Spratlys
issue as long as China can save face.

And truly, there was no need for Noynoy to bring up the disputed
Spratlys problem in the US, since his trip there had nothing to do with
the disputed islands, but to speak before a forum launching a
transparency in government theme. Yet he had to bring this issue up,
either before a business meeting or a Filipino community type meeting..... MORE

09/29/2011
SYDNEY — A national obsession
with border security, the legacy of outdated racist policies, and fears
over job security have made asylum-seekers one of Australia’s thorniest
political problems, experts say.

Boatpeople arrivals have for
years prompted heated debate in Australia, with some deriding them as
“queue-jumpers” taking the place of other needy refugees, and others
seeing them as desperate people in need of protection.

The issue
can be an electoral game-changer and politicians have battled to balance
intense voter sentiment, national obligations toward refugees, and
establishing a deterrent to unauthorized and sometimes fatal sea
journeys.

“There’s something in the national imagination that’s
sparked by the arrival of boats on our northern borders,” said
high-profile immigration researcher David Corlett, who also works as a
consultant to refugee groups..... MORE

09/29/2011
The other day, officials of
the Batino Elementary School in Quirino District in Quezon City
approached a member of the media asking that they be assisted in finding
sponsors to have their new school building finished.

The school
building, with four classrooms, is bare. No school furniture and
fixtures such as blackboards, desks and fans, it is still unpainted.
Worse, even if the building has its own comfort room, it has no septic
tank making it virtually non-functional. And the whole structure is
worth P5 million.

According to the school officials, the building
was funded with the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Akbayan Rep.
Walden Bello. And for this reason, members of the Akbayan party-list
have requested that one of the rooms be reserved for their exclusive use
for the group’s headquarters.

If these reports are true, then this could very well serve as a fitting monument to Akbayan’s hypocrisy..... MORE

09/29/2011
Recently, a well-known and
much read national daily carried a news item about local treasure
hunting. As expected, the avid and prolonged search was reported to be
in conjunction with a “Yamashita Treasure.” It was furthermore said that
the venture was officially stopped by the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources in coordination with the local government officials
and residents in the place that has long since signified their unanimous
objection to the venture — basically for reasons of their safety and
health.

The Filipinos as a whole are rather well-acquainted with
treasure hunting — especially so after the Japanese occupation and
particularly so with reference to treasure said to be buried here and
there by this and that Japanese military official.

The truth of
the matter, however, is that the hunt for hidden treasure in the country
also has reference to Spanish coins which were said to be kept in
different ways and places, basically for safe keeping..... MORE

09/29/2011
The death toll from typhoon
“Pedring” yesterday climbed to 23 as thousands of people battled
widespread flooding and a new weather disturbance draws near.

Rescuers
reported two more deaths overnight, while 35 others remained missing,
after Pedring unleashed heavy rains, winds and storm surges across
Luzon, including Metro Manila, last Tuesday.

The National Disaster
Risk Reduction Management Council-Office of Civil Defense (NDRRMC-OCD)
said the typhoon affected 68,601 families or 320,945 individuals in
eight regions in Luzon, including Metro Manila.

One of the worst
affected areas was Bulacan province where dikes burst and water was
released from dams that reached critical levels during the height of
Pedring’s fury..... MORE

Philippine
Airlines (PAL) management said it has resumed its flight operations,
albeit operating on a reduced schedule, with the deployment of two
US-bound flights, three regional and two domestic flights early
yesterday morning, amid charges that certain ground equipment was
damaged by striking workers of the flag carrier’s ground crew union.

PAL
management condemned the illegal work stoppage by the members of the
Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) that led to the
suspension of airport operations and the cancellation of 172 inbound and
outbound flights (102 international and 70 domestic) from PAL’s hub at
NAIA Terminal 2 yesterday.

PAL said it would lose millions of
dollars in operational losses due to the wildcat strike of its ground
handling crew which paralyzed the operations at its hub at the NAIA
Terminal 2.

Close to 400 members of the PAL union workers assigned
to the check-in counters, baggage, ramp and catering services suddenly
abandoned their posts causing the cancellation of over a hundred
international and domestic flights and inconveniencing thousands of
passengers..... MORE

09/29/2011
At least one million children
in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including the Philippines,
work in small-scale mining and quarrying operations, the International
Labor Organization (ILO) reported.

In the Philippines alone, more
than 18,000 children, aged 10 to 14, work in this hazardous environment,
data from the National Statistics Office showed. Child labor in the
country is common due to widespread poverty, obligating children to help
support to their families to meet daily needs.

The ILO expressed
alarm that child laborers’ continued exposure to dust and mercury-based
chemicals in mines can cause serious brain damage. Child laborers in the
mining industry also often are undersized as a result of carrying
excessively heavy loads.

The ILO believes that child laborers in
mining sites are likely to increase due to the higher prices and demand
for minerals from countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development and emerging economies..... MORE

At
least six persons, including four civilians, were killed after Abu
Sayyaf terrorists raided a Muslim village in Basilan province yesterday
morning that triggered an intense firefight with government security
forces in the area.

Col. Alexander Macario, commander of the
Army’s Special Operations Task Force in Basilan, said that more or less
15 fully-armed Abu Sayyaf men terrorized civilian populace in Barangay
Lower Benembengan around 5:30 a.m..... MORE

By Pat C. Santos 09/29/2011
The
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is set to file another
urgent motion before the Makati Regional Trial Court today seeking
permission for the second time to be allowed to roll down billboards
along Edsa and other major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

MMDA
Chairman Francis Tolentino said they will file the motion before the
sala of Makati RTC Branch 133 Judge Elpidio Calis as part of their
preparation for the possibility of another typhoon hitting the country
this coming weekend.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said a tropical depression
off Northern Luzon has developed into a storm that has been given an
international code name of “Nalgae,” the Korean word for wings.

Once it enters the country the weather bureau said it will be given the local name “Quiel.”.... MORE

By Deni Rose M. Afinidad, Staff Writer 09/29/2011
The reports are staggering: P35 million worth of black corals, 163
endangered hawksbill and green turtles, and other marine life were
seized by the customs at the port of Manila early this year. The black
corals, reports say, include 21,169 species or the equivalent of 190
square kilometers of coral reef — about five times the size of Manila.

According
to the World Wildlife Fund, the remorseless hunt for wildlife species
for home displays and exotic décor has been threatening the country’s
tourism, employment, pharmaceutical research and food security.
But
the Philippines is not the only one that should be alarmed, said marine
biologist Kent Carpenter during a recently held symposium titled
“Scientific Discovery and Conservation in the Philippines.”

Preserving
the Philippines, Carpenter noted, should be a global priority because
the country, according to his years of research verified by many
scientists from different fields, has been found out to be “the center
of the center of marine life in the universe,” the place with the most
number of marine species per unit area, or the “bull’s eye” or
concentration of species in the Coral Triangle..... MORE

Typhoon
“Pedring” left devastations on the agriculture sector worth an
estimated P729 million in 28 provinces of eight regions in the country,
according to initial reports provided by the Department of Agriculture
(DA) to the Senate.

At a hearing on the proposed DA budget by the
Senate finance committee, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said
almost 68,000 hectares of agricultural lands of some 50,000 farmers were
affected by the recent typhoon.

Rice fields were the most
affected, leaving P654 million damaged crops while 6,322 metric tons of
corn were also affected worth P69.2 million.

Alcala said about
39,175 metric tons of palay were damaged which was 0.6 percent of 6.5
million metric tons of the projected harvest for the remaining months of
the year..... MORE